Samsung F700 Mobile Phone Review



I have been using this phone for about 2 weeks on Vodafone and here are my impressions of the phone during that period. In my package i got the following; the phone itself, headphones/hands free set, CD-Rom with Samsung Software, replacement back plate, manual and 1GB memory card. This is my first time writing a review so i expect i have made some mistakes so point them out and if i have missed out anything then just ask and i'll add it.


Basics

HxWxD: 112mm x 56mm x 15.9mm
Weight:139g
Standby Time: 350 hours (max)
Talk Time: 270 minutes (max)
Price: Free on a £35 a month contract with Vodafone.


Design and Interface

The Samsung F700 is a touch screen/sensitive phone with a QWERTY keyboard which can slide out when tilting the phone counter-clockwise. If you feel that you don't want to use the QWERTY keyboard you can use the touch screen instead. Double clicking on a text area will bring up a virtual keyboard which includes T9 support and is layed out exactly the same as previous Samsung phones. Problem with using this is that to start off with you will find yourself touching extra characters by mistake till you get used to it. At first texting with the QWERTY keyboard takes longer than on a normal device but once your used to it you wont be going back to the normal way of writing things.

There are cameras situated on both sides of the phone to allow for 3G video calls, no protective slide protecting the lenses though. The main camera is a 3.15 MP camera that produces images up to a resolution of 2048x1536 pixels and next to it you will find a flash. The camera on the front of the device is a bog standard VGA camera with no flash.

On the front of the device there is only one button which when pressed brings up your shortcuts. On the right hand side of the device you will find volume controls, camera button and a slidey type button that is used to lock the keypad. On top of the device there is the power button and flap which when pulled to the side will reveal the power socket and socket for hands free/headphones. The device can support memory cards which are located under the back cover along with battery and sim card. With my phone i was given an additional back plate so you may also get this if you purchase your phone. My back plate hasnt scratched up yet so i have not yet to use it. The speakers and mic are hidden at the top and bottom of the front of the phone respectively but i reckon these will gather a lot of dust and cleaning them could be hard unless you have some compressed air to clean them out once in a while.

The main menu is shown as a 3 x 4 grid with a cross hair which you can drag around to get to the icon you wish to select. Hovering over icons displays the name of the icon making it easy to find the place you want to get to. Unfortunately there are no additional themes/skins with this phone and your stuck with the dark background with light text.

The touch screen itself is pretty responsive but there has been times where i've had to click a number of times to get it doing what i want it to do. I put this down to my finger not being in the right place rather than the phone not registering something is being pressed. Samsung has added a nice feature where the phone vibrates when you click on things and the level of vibration can be changed or turned off completely. This is called VibeTonz Technology if you wanted to search for it for more info.


Features

My device came with 3 pre-loaded applications, YouTube, GoogleMaps and an application for social sites (which i havn't used so cant give any details on this). The first two applications are pretty nifty, on GoogleMaps you can plan journeys and find out where you are in the world). The YouTube application lets you view videos from their site but the number you can actually watch is limited for the time being. There are also three games for you to play with, i have uninstalled all of them from my device because they were 30 second trials of not very good. Currently support for this phone in the applications and game departments is poor so i havn't added anything new so wouldn't know how easy or hard it is. The phone features all the type of things youd come to expect from a modern phone, web browser, alarm clock, calendar which can be sync'd with Outlook, calculator, music player and my phone came with a feature to connect to and view live tv - whether this is a feature just for Vodafone customers i dont know.

I have had a few problems with the Bluetooth that is used with the phone. It seems to connect to other Samsung phones and Sony Ericsson models but not Nokia phones, i tested with a N95 and my phone couldn't find the Nokia and the Nokia couldn't find me. When trying to connect to my computer using a bluetooth it refused to connect because the bluetooth device installed on my computer was too old but im sure this will be sorted out with new firmware.


Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:
* An extremely good looking interface and screen quality.
* Battery life is good if you consider the size of the screen, there are also energy efficiency options where you can turn down brightness or change the time at which you want the QWERTY keys backlight to become active.
* Sleak design and just the right size to fit in your pocket.
* Buttons on the QWERTY keyboard are just the right size for me although people with larger than average digits may have a problem using it.
* Good sound and voice quality, including when using it on speaker phone mode.

Disadvantages:
* The 3.1MP camera, as with my previous Samsung phone, isn't that great and pictures always end up blurred.
* Phone seems slows down when viewing messages and you have 100+.
* Documentation with the phone was very poor, still don't know what the PIN default is or anything like that.
* No way to get rid of the pre-installed backgrounds which is very annoying to have something on there you don't want or need.
* No wi-fi.


Eye Candy
The image at the top was from cellphones.ca.

Just out the box
QWERTY keypad on display
Main menu
Virtual keyboard texting
Managing files

I would add the pictures directly but have no software to resize them so this seemed like the best way to add them.

You told us to point out errors.. so...

"The main camera is a 3.15 MB camera that produces" you mean MP

Cool lookin phone. I wish they'd come out w/ stuff like this more often in the US.

I have a samsung A707 and it too gets really laggy when viewing messages when you have over 30 (the max the sim card can hold) in the inbox. AND the camera sucks, and pictures do come out blurry a lot. I guess those 2 issues are common to Samsung phones.

i really want a phone like this...dang US carriers

Thanks for point that out, all changed now

There's the Verizon LG Voyager; it's almost the exact same thing. But if you're not on verizon, you're out of luck If you're on ATT/Tmobile, you could buy this phone from europe and get it unlocked and put your SIM card in it.

Nice review .

That phone looks so much like the iPhone, whats with this HUGE fetish of copying the iPhone

i have my contract running out this month. im in a dilemma of which phone to try and get out of vodafone.
either the samsung f700, nokia n95 black 8gb, for the new sony ericcson walkman 8gb.
only downside which is quite big for me is there is no wifi on the f700. also i wasnt keen on the menu system of the samsung they're getting there but not a nice and nokias or sonys.

i really want the nokia but looks like i will have to pay out the nose for it which im not doing!
anyway hope either samsung beings out a model with wifi/wi-lan or i get my nokia i have these phones as backups

nice review though, needed a little more detail on making calls, sound (as you get bose earphones) and a bit more on usability

If you want a competing phone, then it has to look similar....at least until new designs comes out. So I don't see a problem of copying as long as they are not infringing the Apple iPhone patents

I don't mind, it has the amazing hardware full keyboard and you can buy it sim-lock free.

@mshepp: You should include pictures in your review. Those 3 at the top are good but they are stock pictures and you can find them everywhere. A good review is not only made with good text, it also needs good pictures.

does it have a 3.5 mm headphone jack on it or do you have to use an adaptor?

I have added some pictures to the review, well, links to pictures i took.

Yep there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack so you can use your own headphones or the ones that come with the device.

Cheers, great review.

I had an E900, and the touchscreen just got annoying in the end.

i dont like that phone, its branded verizon all over, and they limit features you would other wise have to encourage you to buy their stuff. i do have verizon, but I'm pretty upset with their customer service right not. anyways, id rather have the pull out keypad, not flip open and use for a separate, smaller screen

from your signature: sounds like Roger Waters

Cheers. You could always use the, free, powertoy from Microsoft called "Powertoy".


Indeed.

I have a samsung phone too...when it asked for a 4 digit pin, mine was the last 4 digits of my cell number...might try that

my samsungs codes were 1234 and 00000000 try using them

bumping, apologies. how come samsung won't release phones like these for united states carriers? how hard is it to get an unlocked version of one of these (or one similar) with usa power standards imported to the usa?

A mate of mine has this phone. One negative though is the weight/size. Ok if you're used to that kinda thing though.

Have you tried emailing on it? I want something similar to this but I don't think its going to be released in Aus anytime soon and I am reluctant to buy anything I have not held in my hands and tested.

Did you buy it online?